Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

[bluebottle]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

I seem to be hitting brick walls. The solicitor I saw before my appeal who indicated he would take the case on on a no win no fee has now turned round and said this
'any employment claim to be embarked upon by yourself would not have the strength or merits required in order for us to be able to enter into a "no win, no fee" or conditional fee agreement with you.
Stephen would be able to act on your behalf on a "paid for" basis and I would advise that Mr Taylor Heath's charging rate currently is £235.00 per hour plus VAT and that an estimate for preparing and issuing a claim and carrying out all of the steps leading to a full hearing, including any interim hearings would be a minimum of around £7,000-£8,000 plus VAT. On that basis you would need to recover in excess of this in damages and it is Stephen's view that this is unlikely. Furthermore, should you be unsuccessful in your claim you would expose yourself to a likelihood of having to pay the Defendant's costs which would be a similar figure to that of your own and this is a real risk for you as your mistaken use of the company credit card is a matter which could be viewed as one which would merit your dismissal in any event.

There is of course no charge for the advice given to this point as your meeting was a free of charge half hour advice meeting.

So now I have hit a brick wall and don't know which way to turn

LFC,

There is an LB member who is familiar with employment law matters who may be along sooner or later and be able to advise you as to your next move. From what you have posted, the Protection from Harassment Act 1997 may well be your way forward, but please wait for the LB member I have mentioned to come along first.

[Celestine]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Personally, I would try a few other firms first.

Your previous employers are in clear breach of many employment and data protection AND harassment laws.

Yes, it will take work but try some more firms. Where about in the country are you. PM me if you want.

xx

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

I'm from West Yorkshire

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

It is possible to make a claim to ET on your own and represent yourself, though it means doing all the leg work, but you would have us here to help you on any part your not sure about. Same applies if you wanted to make this a civil claim instead of the ET approach.

You could try the following Law centres - North-East - list of Law Centres e.g. chapeltown in leeds or the bradford law centre. They specialise in welfare laws and are funded via many organisations like local authorities, so will likely take you on especially if you qualify for legal aid. Or they could well help you do the ground work etc.

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Thanks for all the advice so far.I would have been lost without you all. I decided on Monday when the solicitor came back and said he wouldn't help on a no win no fee basis to write back to my old hr. This is what I put based on all your help and advice so far

' I just thought I would give yourselves one last opportunity to reinstate me before I go down the Employment Tribunal based on the following facts. I today received a text message from one of my colleagues stating that now I've gone, my manager has started bullying her- and yes she is taking advice. Also my solicitor has pointed out these facts following my appeal. xxxx are going to be in for a shock when they find it is they who have to produce evidence to prove the manager's conduct does not amount to harassment and that they are vicariously liable for the manager's conduct. Also, the manager is going to be in for a shock as well when she has to produce evidence to prove that her conduct did not amount to harassment.
Claiming there's no evidence is a common tactic and I need to refer you to the Protection from Harassment Act 1997, Sections 1, 2, 3 and 7 and mention that the matter is dealt with by the courts, not ETs, and damages are unlimited.

With regards to you sending my letters to the wrong address, An employer should also be registered as a data controller with the ICO, not only that they are liable under the data protection act to ensure all personal data of an individual is recorded accurately, plus as they clearly sent a letter containing personal details to the wrong address, then its also a breach of the data protection act 1998 as the letter will have disclosed personal information and the fact the data subject was facing disciplinary action at work, not to mention inform the person who got the letter through their letter box of where the employee works.
As of 6 April 2010, the ICO can fine any individual or organisation (including companies) a maximum of £500K for breaching the DPA. The fine is in the form of a Financial Penalty Notice (FPN). The most recent offender was Midlothian Council who were fined £140K on 30 January 2012

With this in mind, for me not to take the case to Employment Tribunal I would like one of the following conditions to be met.

1) Fully reinstated with back pay from date of dismissal ie 1st Feb 2012 plus annual pay rise pf £5000.
2) Be put on gardening leave for 6 months, with full pay.
3) Remain as resignation accepted, but with a suitable compensation offer.

All these conditions to also come with the gross dismissal removing from my records and any future requests for references to be acceptable and based on my work and not these unfound allegations.

I look forward to your prompt reply'


I was not really expecting a response back but today I got this from head of HR
'I acknowledge receipt of your email and confirm that we we will consider
the points you have raised and will respond in 14 days - by 13 March 2012.'


So maybe I have given them something to think about. I honestly believe they think I'm a pushover and would just go quietly so I'm hoping this has given them food for thought

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Let us know what their reply to your letter is.

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Well I was advised that I would get a response to my letter by 13th March - and nothing!! as I have no solicitor willing to take this on a no win no fee- and not covered under my home insurance- looks like I'm going to have to fight this on my own. All advice how to proceed now more than welcome

[charitynjw]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Hi lfc3110,

I see from your first post that your resignation letter was 13/01/2012 (was it sent by post?)

Time limits on ET claims are pretty strict (3 months less one day from cause of action).

Given that you can claim the 'final straw' scenario, if you do intend to go via the ET, you need to be very quick.

You can claim online. http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/Diol1/DoItOnline/DG_4017934

No pressure there, then!
------------------------------- merged -------------------------------
Forgot to add this explanation

http://www.williambrose.com/factchee...nce-Procedures

[lfc3110]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Finally received a reply from them today as follows

I am writing in response to your email of 27 February and note its contents.

I should make it clear at the outset, that the Company’s internal processes have now been exhausted with the hearing and outcome of your Appeal. Therefore, nothing within my response is intended to or will supersede or re open the findings of that Appeal hearing on 15 February 2012.

However, in response to your email, I confirm the Company’s position as follows;

• At the Appeal hearing, the allegations of harassment made by you were discussed and you confirmed that you had not raised a grievance in this regard. As such, the Company has been unable to investigate any concerns and therefore, no further comment can be made.
• It is not appropriate for issues to be discussed regarding other employees. I have no information of such issues as you have stated and therefore cannot respond any further.
• In respect of the Data Protection Act alleged breaches. I am unclear as to how it is you say a breach of the act occurred. It is not my understanding from your email or indeed the letters that were returned unopened to the Company, that any third party had any access to this information.
• As to the conditions you have stipulated, I confirm that the Company does not accept any of these and the decision made in the Appeal on 15 February 2012 stands.

I trust this deals with the queries raised which I have done as a matter of courtesy.

Looks like I'm going to have to go to ET - does anyone know what costs I may incur- I am struggling to make ends meet as it is at the moment and can't find a solicitor who will take me on on a no win no fee basis

[enaid]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

The ET itself costs nothing

Award of costs or expenses

Each party at a hearing should meet their own expenses to the extent that they are not payable out of public funds (see Allowances for attending the Tribunal). You will not have to pay any of the other party’s costs merely because you lose your case. However the tribunal may order you to pay all or part of the costs of the other party if it decides that you have acted abusively, vexatiously or otherwise unreasonably or the bringing or conducting of the proceedings by the paying party has been misconceived. An award of costs may follow a warning given at a pre-hearing review or if you fail to comply with an Order or Practice Direction. The tribunal may also order you to make a payment to the other party if he or she suffers loss because a hearing is postponed or adjourned at your request because of some action or failure on your part. A request should be made to the tribunal if you wish it to consider making an order for costs.

Here is the ET expalined
Employment Tribunals: an introduction : Directgov - Employment

[charitynjw]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Hi lfc3110,

At the moment, apart from incidental expenses such as travelling, preparation costs (ie printing, postage, etc) - that type of thing, there are no fees or Tribunal costs, as each side is expected to bear their own costs.
Email is good for routine stuff - keep copies.

It can get pretty labour-intensive, though (loads of research)

You have to be ready for CPR Part 36 offers - more on that if/when the time comes.

An ET claim will automatically trigger ACAS mediation.

Did you read my previous post, though - time is not on your side!

[teaboy2]

Re: Handed my notice in but now they are taking me to a disciplinary- Help needed

Finally received a reply from them today as follows

I am writing in response to your email of 27 February and note its contents.

I should make it clear at the outset, that the Company’s internal processes have now been exhausted with the hearing and outcome of your Appeal. Therefore, nothing within my response is intended to or will supersede or re open the findings of that Appeal hearing on 15 February 2012.

However, in response to your email, I confirm the Company’s position as follows;

• At the Appeal hearing, the allegations of harassment made by you were discussed and you confirmed that you had not raised a grievance in this regard. As such, the Company has been unable to investigate any concerns and therefore, no further comment can be made.
• It is not appropriate for issues to be discussed regarding other employees. I have no information of such issues as you have stated and therefore cannot respond any further.
• In respect of the Data Protection Act alleged breaches. I am unclear as to how it is you say a breach of the act occurred. It is not my understanding from your email or indeed the letters that were returned unopened to the Company, that any third party had any access to this information.

The breach is them failing to record and process your data accurately, its irelevent whether any letters were opened or not, all thats relevent is the data they processed about you was inaccurate and as a result you were prejudiced by it e.g. did not receive the letters.

• As to the conditions you have stipulated, I confirm that the Company does not accept any of these and the decision made in the Appeal on 15 February 2012 stands.

I trust this deals with the queries raised which I have done as a matter of courtesy.

Looks like I'm going to have to go to ET - does anyone know what costs I may incur- I am struggling to make ends meet as it is at the moment and can't find a solicitor who will take me on on a no win no fee basis

Yes ET is looking very likely now.